How I Found 60 Customers on Reddit Without Spending $1 on Ads
I spent December 2024 with zero customers.
Not because my SaaS was bad - I had a working product, clean UI, decent docs. Problem? Nobody knew it existed.
Twitter: crickets. LinkedIn: 12 views (2 from my mom). Indie Hackers: upvotes but zero signups.
Then I tried Reddit. Got banned. Twice. Same week.
Reddit Hates Advertising (Here's Why That's Good)
Reddit communities smell self-promotion instantly. Drop a landing page link? Expect downvotes or permanent bans. Both happened to me.
But here's the paradox: some founders are crushing it. MediaFast bootstrapped to $2K MRR purely from Reddit. Howitzer hit $5K MRR before seed funding. One founder got 60/100 first users from a single Reddit thread.
What's the secret?
They Solve, Not Sell
After my second ban, I spent a week lurking and watching successful founders. Pattern I noticed:
They never sold products. They solved problems.
Bad approach:
"Check out my new Reddit tool!"
Good approach:
"Struggled with X for months. Tried Y and Z, both failed. Built a script to fix it. Made it a desktop app. Happy to share if useful."
One's a pitch. The other's a story.
My 3-Step Framework That Worked
Step 1: Find Customer Pain Points
Don't spam r/entrepreneur with launches.
Instead, search for:
- "reddit marketing tools"
- "how to find customers on reddit"
- "reddit scraper alternatives"
In subreddits like r/Entrepreneur, r/AskMarketing, r/GrowthHacking, r/B2BMarketing.
Find threads where people actively ask "How do I monitor Reddit keywords?" or "Need a Reddit research tool?"
These are GOLD. Problem is active, intent is high.
Step 2: Value First (70%), Product Last (30%)
My comment template:
Yeah I struggled with this too.
Tried Python PRAW scraper but hit rate limits after 100 requests.
Tried web scraping but Cloudflare kept blocking me. Annoying.
What worked: built a desktop tool that runs locally.
No rate limits (uses your own IP).
Has filters for dates, karma, keywords.
Called it Wappkit Reddit. UI could use work but gets the job done.
Has 3-day trial, then $14/month with code BNWPJRLVJH (30% off).
Not perfect, but beats 3 hours of manual scrolling.
What I did right:
- ✅ Shared struggle (relatability)
- ✅ Mentioned failures (credibility)
- ✅ Tool as "scrappy solution" not "ultimate product"
- ✅ Admitted flaws
- ✅ Focused on time saved
This got me 60% of early users.
Step 3: Scale with Automation
Manual Reddit search daily = exhausting.
After 2 weeks, I automated monitoring with Wappkit Reddit:
- Keyword alerts ("reddit marketing", "find customers")
- Filter by engagement (5+ comments)
- Sort by newest
- Daily digests
Saves ~10 hours/week. Pays for itself.
Results: 60 Customers in 45 Days
Week 1-2: Got banned twice (learning)
Week 3: First 5 customers from one comment
Week 4: 15 more from 3 threads
Week 5-6: 40 more from consistent effort
Total: 60 customers, 45 days, zero ad spend.
Conversion: ~20% click-to-trial, ~30% trial-to-paid.
Better than my $500 Facebook Ads (2 signups, 1 chargeback).
What Doesn't Work
❌ r/SideProject or r/IMadeThis - Only founders, not customers
❌ Reddit Ads - $200 spent, 50 clicks, 0 signups
❌ Fake accounts - Got caught, shadow banned
The Real Strategy
Successful Reddit founders:
- Solve publicly - Share knowledge, be helpful
- Mention naturally - Product is one solution, not THE solution
- Admit limits - "Works for me" > "Revolutionary AI"
- DM follow-ups - Move interested people to private chat
- Track performance - Double down on what converts
Why This Works
Reddit users have HIGH INTENT.
Someone Googles "best reddit marketing tool" → they're actively solving a problem.
Your 6-month-old comment can rank in Google → passive customer acquisition.
One good comment = months of leads.
Final Advice
If I could tell myself one thing before starting:
"Stop selling. Start helping."
60 customers came from genuinely helping people, then mentioning my tool as one option.
Not revolutionary. But it works.
If you're building SaaS:
- Don't spam
- Don't hard-sell
- Do provide value
- Do be patient
And avoid getting banned 3x like me 😅
P.S. Wappkit Reddit has 3-day unlimited trial. $19.99/month after, use code BNWPJRLVJH for 30% off ($13.99). Pays for itself in saved research time.
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